1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to knives and other cutters, and more particularly to a multifunction handheld kitchen scissor/knife appliance that can be configured when desired for use as a conventional fixed-blade knife and as a blade-and-anvil cutters.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional fixed-blade knife is a cutting tool having a blade and a handle attached to the blade. The blade has an edge (a cutting edge) that extends from the handle end of the blade (the proximal end portion) toward the tip of the blade (the distal end portion), and a spine (the top of the blade) opposite the cutting edge that also extends from the handle end of the blade toward the tip of the blade. The spine of the blade is typically somewhat broad (at least near the handle the end) so that a user can push against it with his thumb in order to facilitate cutting with the edge of the blade. Hunting knives and kitchen knives are good examples.
Whether in the field, in the kitchen, or elsewhere, some cuts are better made with a blade-and-anvil type of cutters (i.e., a cutting tool having a blade that closes and cuts against an anvil). The blade-and-anvil cutters in U.S. Pat. Nos. D398,499, D434,955, D422,463, and D427,036 provide good examples. But, a second tool is required and so it is desirable to have a better way to accomplish these two different types of cutting.
The invention described in the parent application addresses the concerns outlined above by providing a convertible knife that can be used for both types of cutting. The convertible knife includes a knife member and a companion conversion member that locks onto the knife member when desired. Preferably, at least a portion of the spine of the knife is sharpened to provide a secondary cutting edge, and the conversion member locks onto the knife member pivotally to provide an anvil member that works in opposition to the secondary cutting edge. Thus, the user can quickly convert between knife stye cutting and blade-and-anvil cutting by adding or removing the conversion member. Nevertheless, refinement is desirable for food preparation purposes, in the kitchen or elsewhere.